Where Love Takes Us
by JoBO
Summary: It all started with just a plane crash, but turned out to be a fight for the world that we know, when Gambit is forced to handle his past. Is there any room for Rogue in his new life, when Sinister is playing? RogueRemy
1. Prologue

_Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, etc. - Any coincidence with any real living people is purely accidental._

* * *

**Where love takes us**

by JoBO

-o-

**Prologue **

She couldn't stop shaking even though they had been in the air for many hours, so he laid an arm around her shoulders in an attempt to clam her down.

"It's all right."

Her eyes were still big with fear.

"They will never let me go. I'm too important for them… but I can't do it anymore!"

He tried to comfort her.

"It's over. We are almost about to land, so there is no way they can hurt you now."

She shook her head.

"You don't know them. He has contacts all over the world. He will never let me go."

Before he could answer her came a stewardess over to them. She had a phone in her hand.

"Excuse me, Miss, but there is a phone call for you."

She took the phone, which the stewardess gave her, with shaking hands and put it to her ear, but froze as she recognized the voice.

"Well, my little girl, did you really think that I wouldn't be able to find you?"

She didn't say anything, so he just continued.

"I must say, that you almost fooled me, but you have also been trained by the best and as you already know: No one deceives me!"

He held a rhetorical pause.

"I'm just calling to let you know that we no longer needs your service, so I really hope you are going to enjoy your flight… or what is left of it!"

She dropped the phone, which in the same moment turned dead, and looked over on the man beside her with fearful eyes.

"Remy, They are going to kill me!"

In the same moment was there an explosion and the cabin began to be filled up with smoke…

o-

The black helicopter landed next to the other helicopter and a group of people led by a young woman in a white coat ran over to it. The young woman opened the door in the helicopter and jumped in even before the rotor blades had stopped moving. She cast a quick glance over at the stretcher with the patient, before contacting the helicopter's doctor.

"How is he?"

The helicopter doctor took his helmet off and began to make the patient ready to get out of the helicopter.

"He is stable for now, but he took a big blow to the head so he still needs surgery."

The young woman nodded

"My team and I will take over now. We are very thankful for you collaboration."

She jumped out of the helicopter and ordered her team to take the patient over to the other helicopter. Her team instantly fulfilled her commanded and she was just about to walk after them, when the helicopter doctor grabbed her arm.

"You can't just take him like this. He needs medical attention!"

Their eyes met for a second and the coldness in hers made him released his grasp.

"I'm his doctor now and I will give him the medical attention that he needs!"

She quickly ran over to the other helicopter, where she jumped into the patient, who hastily had been loaded in while she had been talking to the other doctor. She quickly examined the patient to make sure that he condition still was stable, which it was.

"How is our Subject… which number is he, Dr. Lymstad?"

She looked over at the man next to the pilot.

"72! He is Subject 72 and he is stable for now, but we have to hurry back to the base, Mr. Sinister."

Sinister looked over at the patient and smiled. Finally he had him back after such a long time and this time he was never going to let him go!


	2. His last wish

**  
1. His last wish**

She was sitting in the library and was reading a book, when Storm came into the room. Rogue closed the book and stood up to face her.

"Don't tell me, that his plane is delayed! I'm going to kill that…"

The expression on Storm's face made her stopped. Something had happened, but it couldn't be… NO! She felt down on her knees as Storm's word confirmed what had happened.

"There has been an accident. The plane, that Gambit was on, has crashed and…"

Rogue looked up at Storm, who had laid her arms around her in support.

"He…he is going to be alright?"

Somehow she already knew the answer, but she had to hear it.

"We don't know."

Rogue pushed Storm away and stood up. She had to see him! He couldn't…. no, she didn't even want to think the word. He had to be all right, because she couldn't live without him.

o-

Rogue pushed her way through the crowd, which had gathered outside Gambit's room, as some of the hospital's security guards tried to get them to leave. First she thought they were mad at Gambit, but then one of the men stepped out of the crowd and held her back by grasping her hand.

"Please, we have to know, that he is going to be okay. He saved my life!"

The look in his eye told her so much more that his words. Rogue pulled away from him and fled into Gambit's room, but the sight, which met her there, took her breath away. In the middle of the room laid Gambit in a hospital bed with all kinds of tubes sticking out of him. In the background stood the machine and monitored his condition.

She went over to him and took his hand as the doctor's word rush through her head. He wasn't going to be all right. This was the end. He had saved so many, but in the end he was going to pay for it with his life. She felt the tears running down of her cheeks. She was just about to wipe them away, when she suddenly felt his hand moving. She looked up and saw that he had opened his eyes. He tried to smile as he saw her, but the pain forced him stop.

"Don't… cry, chere… Gambit is… just going… away… for… a while."

Even so close to the end he tried to comfort her, but she could see how much pain it took him to say the words and it tore her apart.

"Don't talk. There is still hope!"

He reached out after her, but once more was it the pain that stopped him.

"Sorry, chere… is wasn't…supposed… to end like this."

She tightened her hold in his hand.

"Please… fulfil a dying… man's… last… wish."

"You aren't dying! I won't let you! I need…"

His eyes stopped her. They had lost their normally glint of danger, which she loved so much, and had begun to get a milk-white membrane over them. Somehow she knew what he wanted her to do and she leaned towards him. Their lips met in a kiss, which didn't end until the machines bleeping told her what had happened.

o-

"Thank you, Simon. I'm standing here next to where the plane crash happened. It happened just moments before the plane should have landed, and even through it seems incredible have all the passengers and crew survived. They have told me that it was one of the passengers, named Remy LeBeau… "

A picture of Gambit was shown on the screen as the reporter kept talking.

"… who without regarding for his own life fought through the flames and miraculous got control over the plane just minuets before it was going to hit the water. Somehow he was…"

The reporter turned away form the camera and placed her hand over her ear as she got the new information, but then she returned to the camera.

"I have now received the news, that Remy LeBeau just has died at St. Johns hospital. May his soul rest in peace…"

The waitresses walked over to the television and changed the channel. She didn't want to hear more about this plane crash, since it brought back the terrible memories, which she thought she had forgot a long time ago.

"Hey beautiful!"

She looked up and saw Logan, who just had came into the dinner. She tried to smile, but the news had brought her back in time to that terrible day, and it hang like a dark cloud over her. Logan saw it at once and came over to her.

"What has happen?"

She tried to hold the tears back.

"It's nothing. There have just been a plane crash and…"

He knew her so good, that he could finish her sentence.

"… and you remembered the day, where your plane crashed."

She nodded and tried to pull herself together as she continued her work with filling the sugar bowls.

"By the way it's nothing like what I experienced. There was this one guy, who saved them all, but in the end he died of his wounds."

Logan sat down by the counter.

"He really sounds like a hero."

She poured him a cup of coffee and returned to her work.

"Yeah, even through he didn't looked like one."

Logan raised his eyebrows.

"You saw him?"

She smiled and shook her head as she turned around in order to put the sugar bowls away.

"No, but they showed a picture of him. His name was Red… no, it was Remy. Remy LeBeau! It sounds a little French, don't you think?"

Since he didn't answer her she turned around, but just to discovered that she was alone.


	3. The Dream

**  
2. The Dream**

"Rogue?"

She turned around and saw that Storm was standing in the doorway into her room. If she somehow had been able to forget what had happened, then just one look at Storm's face would had make her remember, but she could never forget it. She could still feel him inside her, even though it was so many hours since he had died. Storm came over to her and sat down next to her in the window frame.

"Are you okay?"

Rogue shook her head as she focus her eyes on a falling star. Quickly she made a wish, even though she knew it was too late.

"No, I already miss him so much that…."

She cast a quick glance over at Storm and saw she shed a tear.

"… I can still feel him."

Storm wiped the tear away.

"What do you mean?"

Rogue told her about Gambit's last wish and ended her story by taking one of the hankies, which were in front of her, and threw it out of the window.

"…and now this happen every time."

The hankie exposed in the midair.

"But doesn't it normally just stop after a while?"

Rogue looked down on her hands.

"What if I don't want it to stop?"

o-

He cast a glance down at his mobile phone as he emptied his coffee mug with a sigh. Max should have called him hours ago. It couldn't take that long to check it. He looked down on his watch and saw that it was getting late. Maybe he should just drive out there. No, he needed the information. He shouldn't expose himself without a reason. Especially if it just turned out to be a mistake.

The phone began to ring and he quickly answered it as his heart began to beat faster.

"Yes."

It was Max.

"You were right, sir. He can… or could have been the one. It took me a long time to check his past as he… well, let us just say, that he isn't a good boy."

"So, you are sure?"

"Yes, I believe you, Louis, but there are still some holes in the story. This could still be a scheme to take you down. Are you really willing to take that chance? Just to find a ghost!"

He didn't have to think about it, as his heart already knew the answer.

"I have to know. I can't just leave now that I'm so close, besides I feel that I'm so close to him now."

He could hear the person in the other end take a deep breath.

"Okay, I trust you to make the right decision, but remember that…"

He interrupted him.

"I know!"

He ended the call and stood up as he cast a glance at his watch. It was now too late, but tomorrow…

o-

"Rogue!"

She turned around and saw that he was standing behind her. She ran over to him and laid her arms around his neck.

"I miss you so much!"

He smiled and caressed her cheek. First she was afraid, but then she discovered that nothing happened. He could touch her.

"Why, chere? Gambit has been here all the time."

He kissed her. She didn't want it to end, but it did as he turned around and walked away.

"Please, don't leave!"

He stopped and cast a glance back on her.

"I have to go. Couldn't stay longer."

He was just about to start walking again, when he send her blew her a kiss.

"I will always love you, Rogue."

The fog absorbed him even before he had said the last words. She tried to run after him, but then she discovered that she couldn't. Something held her down to the ground, so she couldn't move her feet. For a while she tried to fight it, but then she gave up. Immediately she felt the hold on her feet loosen and she felt down on her knees, where she gave in to the tears.

She cried for a long time. Feeling that she never could stop, but then she sensed someone close to her. She looked up and saw her.

"Who are you?"

The woman came over to her and wiped Rogue's tears away with her sleeve.

"You know who I am, since it was you, who asked for my help."

"I don't…"

The woman smiled and pointed up at the stars.

"You made a wish and now I'm here to help you."

"But I don't understand."

The woman smiled again and helped her up.

"Yes, you do, Rogue, but first you have to wake up from this dream."

The woman placed her hands over Rogue's head and began to say something, which Rouge couldn't understand. Rogue felt it like something was pulling in her, but then everything went dark.

She opened her eyes and discovered, that she was lying in her own bed. It had just been a dream, but it had felt so real. The kiss… Her heart began to beat faster as she thought about it, but he was gone forever now. She once more began to feel the tears coming up in her eyes, but then she suddenly knew what she should do.

Quickly she step out of her bed and got dressed. She had to act quickly, since there was still a way to save him, but the clock was ticking. She really hoped that it was going to work, because she couldn't live without him.


	4. Louis Dubois

**3. Louis Dubois**

The sun rose in the horizon as Logan pressed the speeder down, and the jeep increase it's speed with a roar. He just needed to drive through the city to come to the school, but still it felt like he was a million miles away. As he came to the city boundary he lifted his foot a little, but still he held the pace far above the speed limit. He cast a glance down on his wristwatch to check the time. If he was very lucky, then he was going to get this whole misunderstanding out of the world before it was time for breakfast.

He looked up just in time to see the man, who walked out just in front of him. He braked sharply and stopped just inches before hitting the man. Just in the same moment they got eye contact, and Logan recognized him at once. He smiled and was just about to say something, when the man jumped up and ran away. For a moment thought Logan about following him, but then he shook his head. That Gumbo wasn't going to ruined his breakfast. Logan started the car again and droved the last way to the school.

He parked the jeep in the garage and went up to the kitchen. The school was unnaturally still, but he didn't think much about it as he opened the fridge in searching for something eatable. It was first when Xavier came into the kitchen, that he realized that something was wrong.

"You're back, Logan, and just in time for the funeral."

Logan quickly swallowed the food he had in his mouth.

"What funeral?"

Xavier looked at him whit a surprised look.

"I thought you already knew, since you have come back home. I very sorry that you have to hear it like this, but Remy died yesterday."

Logan smiled.

"Don't try to fool me. I have just seen him down in the city as I almost drove him over!"

The Professor was clearly surprised over at hearing this, but before he could say anything came Storm into the room.

"Professor, I can't find Rogue…"

She was so agitated, that she didn't saw Logan, who still was stuffing his mouth with food.

"… and it's getting worse. Gambit's body is also missing."

Suddenly Logan didn't felt so hungry anymore and stood up. He finally began to realize, that Gambit really was dead and that it wasn't just a trick they played on him.

"But if Gambit really is dead… who was then that guy that I saw down in the city."

Xavier looked like he already was far away in his thoughts.

"I don't know, Logan, but one think I sure about is, that it couldn't have been Remy. I checked his body myself to make sure, that it really was him, who died, and sadly it was."

In the same moment came Jubilee running into the kitchen. She was so shortly of breath, that she didn't realize the dense atmosphere in the kitchen.

"Professor… there is a man…. who wants to see you."

"Tell him to come back later, since we are really busy right now."

She didn't moved.

"But he says it's very important, and that it has something to do with Gambit."

She had by her last words got everyone's attention and Xavier slowly nodded his approval.

"Okay, send him into my office and ask him to wait for me there."

Jubilee walked out of the kitchen to give the man the message, as Xavier turned his attention to Storm.

"Storm try to see if you somehow can trace Rogue. I will come and help you after I have talked to this man…."

He turned his attention to Logan as Storm walked away to do her job.

"…And Logan. I will appreciate it, if would you meet this man together with me."

Logan was instantly on guard.

"Do you feel something about this man?"

Xavier shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know, what it is, but I get a strange feeling from him, which I until now only have felt coming from one person."

"Who?"

Xavier looked up at him.

"Remy… but that doesn't have to mean anything. Still I would like you to observed him."

Logan just nodded and walked after Xavier into his office to meet the man, who was standing in the middle of the room. He was wearing a black jacket which had a big hood, which hided his face. He came over and greeted them.

"Thanks for meeting me, Professor Xavier. My name is Louis Dubois and I'm very sorry to come this early, but my reason to call this meeting is very important."

Xavier went over to his desk and showed the man a chair in front of it.

"So Mr. Dubois, what can we do for you?"

The man sat down.

"My sources have told me, that this school was the last known home of the now deceased Remy LeBeau."

Xavier confirmed it.

"But I don't understand, why this is so important?"

Louis took a deep breath.

"It is to me, since I think, that he was my brother."

Even Xavier was shocked over this news.

"What makes you think that?"

Louis pulled the hood down, so they could see his face.

"Maybe this will answer your question."

He looked exactly like Gambit, but still there also were some dissimilarity. His hairstyle was a little different to Gambit's and he had a beard, but the overall was the same.


	5. It’s too late

**  
4. It's too late**

Louis pulled the hood down, so they could see his face.

"Maybe this will answer your question."

He looked exactly like Gambit, but still there also were some dissimilarity. His hairstyle was a little different to Gambit's and he had a beard, but the overall was the same.

Logan, who doing the whole conversation had been standing in the background, stepped forward and would have released his claws, if it hadn't been for the look that Xavier sent him. Still it couldn't stop him from saying that was on his mind.

"That is NOT funny."

Louis quickly pulled his hood up again and stood up.

"Sorry, I didn't want to scare you, but it's just…"

Xavier managed to keep his voice in it's normally tone.

"It's alright. We just got surprised. You really look at lot like Remy."

It surprised Xavier to see how the young man's eyes lighted up with this information. He almost believed, that this man could be Remy's brother, but still he was on guard. Louis saw it and changed his method.

"Thanks, but I think, that I already have out stayed my welcome…"

He took something from his pocket and reached it towards Xavier. It was a black folder.

"… but I would appreciate it really much, if you could find time to read this. It's all the research that I have done to find my brother."

Xavier took the folder from Louis and opened it. It was full of old newspapers clippings and some papers, but on the top of it all laid an old photo.

"It was taken just after birth."

The photo portrayed two babies, which could have been everyone, if it hadn't been for the eyes. Both of the babies had very unusually eyes - Red irises on black sclera.

o-

She turned at the last corner and parked the car beside the big oak tree as a woman came out of the house. The women, who she immediately recognized from her dream, came over to her car and helped her out.

"You are late! Do you have him with you?"

Rogue nodded and opened the door to the back seat, where she very carefully had laid Gambit's body.

"Take him up to the house."

The woman was just about to go back to the house, when Rogue grabbed her hand.

"Can you save him?"

For a second their eyes met, and they both recognized the pain in the other one.

"I don't know, maybe it's already too late, so hurry up!"

Rogue took Gambit's body into her arms and carried him into the house. The inside of the house was very different to what she had expected. It wasn't a nice typically family home as everyone would have expected for the outside, but instead it had been converted into a laboratory. It was like stepping into a whole new world, since it was such a huge contrast to how ramshackle the house looked from the outside.

On the woman's instructions she laid Gambit's body down on a couch in the middle of the room and stepped back. The woman began to examine Gambit as Rogue kept a close eye on her. After some minuet the woman looked up at Rogue and shook her head.

"Sorry, but it is too late."

"What do you mean?"

The woman walked over to her.

"I had hoped, that I could have helped him, but my powers do have their limits. I can sometimes bring dead people back to life, but never when they have been dead in such a long time. I'm sorry, that I got your hoped up, but… I had to try."

Rogue pulled away from her and ran over to Gambit's boy, where she took his hand. For the very first time she felt how cold it was, and it made her start crying, but still she tried to hold the tears back.

"But you said you could help him!"

The woman came over to her and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Sorry, but it's too late. When a person dies, then its soul is for a while still connected to the body through what some calls a silver line. Sometimes I can use this line to pull people back to life, but never when the line is so thin."

Rogue shook her hand away and couldn't stop the tears from flowing down her cheeks, as she realized, that he was never going to come back.

o-

"Do you believe him?"

Logan and Xavier stood on the top of the staircase and looked as Louis drove away. Xavier shook his head lightly to Logan's question.

"I don't know. There is the possibility, that he actually is Remy's brother, but still that really isn't the most important thing."

Logan cast a nervous glance over at the professor.

"What do you mean?"

The car turned at a corner and vanished from their sight. Xavier turned around and was just about to drive into the house again, when he stopped and cast a last glance down the road.

"He believes it, and I don't think, that he will stop before he have prove to the world, that Remy really was his brother."

Logan was just about to say something, when Storm appeared in the opened door.

"Professor, I have found Rogue, but…"

She looked down on her hand.

"… she is the one, who have taken Gambit's body."

Both Logan and Storm looked over at Xavier, who didn't at all look surprised over the news.

"Take the Blackbird and get them back home."

They were just about to walk away, when Logan stopped and cast a glance back at the professor.

"You knew, that she was going to run away with his body."

Xavier nodded.

"In a way."


	6. Switched

**  
5. Switched**

She pulled back with a jerk as she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up and saw that the woman was standing beside her.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, but I just thought that you maybe wanted something to eat."

The woman nodded in the direction of an open door, where Rogue could see the kitchen behind. She then cast a glance back on Gambit's body as she felt the hungry in her stomach. She hadn't eaten anything in a long time, so she was very hungry, but still she couldn't leave him. The woman saw the conflict in her eyes.

"Don't think about it. You can eat it in here."

"Thanks."

The woman disappeared for a second and came back with bowl of food, which Rogue gratefully took. The woman then took a chair from the kitchen and sat down to keep Rogue with company as she ate. The woman cast a glance over at Gambit's body.

"You really love him?"

Suddenly Rogue didn't felt, that she was so hungry after all, so she sat the bowl down on the nearby table.

"Yeah, I do, but I discovered it first, when it's too late."

"Please, tell me about him."

"Why?"

The woman stood up and walked over to the window.

"It's the best way to grieve. Realizing that the person isn't completely gone, but that he still lives in your heart."

Rogue looked into herself and realized, that Gambit still was alive in her heart, and that the love that they had shared together was stronger that life and dead.

"Thanks."

The woman turned around and sent her a smile.

"It's okay, but please tell me about him."

Rogue looked over at Gambit's body as the memories rushed through her mind. There were so many - both good and bad ones – so she didn't know where to start, but then she decided to start at with the end.

"He was always so sure about our love. Even in the very end as he asked me for a kiss and…"

The woman jerked back in surprised.

"You kissed him just before he died?"

Rogue, who was surprised over the woman's reaction, nodded. The woman almost ran over to Rogue and pulled her over to Gambit's body. She closed her eyes and for a couple of minuets she just stood there, but then she opened her eyes and smiled.

"Somehow he is still there… In you."

Rogue felt her heart beat faster.

"Can you save him?"

The woman took a deep breath.

"I don't know. I have never tried this with two people before. There can be all kinds of side effects, which… It could kill us all or something else. And still if it works, then there could also be side effects…"

One look at Rogue's eyes stopped her. She nodded and was just about to start the process, when someone broke through the door. Rogue looked up and recognized Storm and Wolverine. Wolverine began to run over to them, as Rogue looked over at the woman.

"DO IT!"

The woman nodded and started the process. First Rogue felt a great pain run through her body, but then it all stopped. It stopped just for a second, but it was long enough for her to see Wolverine's worried eyes. Then it all started again, so she closed her eyes. Just as she thought she couldn't withstand the pressure anymore it got worse, but then she saw him. He gave her the strength to defy the pressure for a time, but then it all turned black.

Storm and Wolverine could only look in horror as the woman began the process. Wolverine tried to run over to them, as Rogue's screams made the hair at the back of his head stand up, but then he was pushed back by something he couldn't see. He released his claws and tried to fight it off, but nothing happened. It just pushed him further and further back.

Storm couldn't keep her eyes away from Gambit's body as she suddenly saw his hand moving. Was it just something she had imagined or could it really happen? Before she could think further fell Wolverine in over her. The power, which had pushed Wolverine back, began to work on them both and it pushed them out of the broken door.

They were halfway down the driveway, when the power suddenly stopped pushing them back. It took them a couple of seconds realized, that the power really was gone, but then they were just about to run back to the house, when it suddenly exploded. They hided under Rogue's car as the pieces from the house felt down from the sky.

After some minuets had the dust vanished so much, that they could crawl out from under the car, and they ran up to what used to be a house. They rushed over to where they thought their friend would be and started digging. Storm didn't use her powers, as she was afraid the rest of the house would dash down on their heads, if she did. Wolverine instead used his claws like an obsessed man, which only became worse as he heard a moan from the rubbles. Storm helped him moving a big block and underneath it they found the three bodies.

Wolverine quickly jumped over and checked that Rogue still was alive. In the same moment did Storm the same thing with Gambit and discovered that he was alive.

"Gambit?"

To Wolverine delight opened Rogue her eyes, but he wasn't prepared to what she was going to say.

"Over here, chere, over here."


	7. The Miracle Doctor

**  
6. The Miracle Doctor**

Xavier rolled his wheelchair over to the bed, where the woman was lying. She hadn't yet regain consciousness after the explosion, so they still didn't knew, who she was. He took her hand and tried to close out the bleeping sound from the life-support system.

"Who are you?"

He tried to use his power, but each he was stopped by a blockade, which surrounded the woman's mind.

"Professor?"

He looked up and saw, that Beast was standing in the doorway.

"How is Rogue and Gambit?"

Beast smiled and shook his head very lightly, as he walked over to check the woman's condition.

"They have both only got minor injuries, so if you look away from the fact, that they have switched bodies, then they are going to alright. They should be up on their feet by tomorrow."

Xavier cast a glance back on the woman.

"And it's all thanks to her. Have you found out who she is?"

Beast nodded.

"Yeah, I took her fingerprints and ran them through the computer, which came up with a match. Her name is Dr. Neria Ury."

Xavier squeezed her hand as he tried her name.

"Neria."

Beast turned around to face Xavier.

"But there is more…. She is only fifteen years old."

Xavier looked very surprised over at the woman, who looked like she was at least forty years old.

o-

He had just stepped out of the shower, when it knocked on the door, so he quickly took the bathrobe on and went over to answer it. On the other side of the door stood there a messenger, who had a big package in his hands.

"A package to Mr. Louis Dubois from a Mr. Maximilien Arceneaux."

Louis smiled as he signed for the package and tipped the messenger. Finally he stood the package from Max in his hands, which he had been waiting for in hours. He quickly closed the door and went over to the table to he opened it.

There was a letter pasted to the top of package, which he quickly took it off. It was a letter from Max, so he quickly opened it and read it in a heartbeat. Afterwards he creased it together and threw it into the fire as he shook his head. Max was always so anxious, which were why it had taken Louis such a long time to persuade Max not to go with him on this trip. Max had always treated him like his younger brother, but still had Max never forgot his duty, which was to keep Louis alive.

Louis then opened the package and took the stuff out, as he made sure, that all the things, that he had asked Max to send him, were there. After checking one more time, that all the stuff, that he was going to need, was there, he then packed it all down in the sports bag. He then took the folder, which also had been in the package, began to read it.

o-

Xavier was sitting in his office and was starring at his computer screen, which showed the picture of a very beautiful teenage girl, when it knocked on the door and Storm came in.

"Professor?"

He looked up with an anxious look in his eyes.

"Something wrong?"

She quickly shook her head and came over to him.

"No, they are still sleeping, so I just wanted to see how you were doing."

She cast a glance over at his computer screen and saw the picture.

"Is that her?"

He nodded without taking his eyes away from the picture.

"Yes, that is Neria Ury or rather Dr. Neria Ury."

Storm sent him a surprised look.

"But isn't she too young to be a doctor?"

Xavier shook his head lightly as he took a deep breath.

"She is want you call a child prodigy, which mean that she not only have a degree in medicine, but also one in biochemistry."

"Wow, has that something to do with her mutant powers?"

Xavier typed something on the keyboard and a list appeared on the screen.

"I don't think so. If you look at this list, then you can she, that she until five years ago lived at a children's home in Poland, but then something mysterious happens, which suddenly sends her to some of the best schools in Europe."

Storm read the list and sent Xavier a confused look.

"It must have cost someone a fortune to send her to those schools."

Xavier nodded.

"My thoughts too, so I sat the computer to find sites on the net, where her name appears, and it came up with this."

He typed something on the keyboard and a new list came up on the screen. This one was much longer that the first one. Storm began to read it, but stopped for a second and sent Xavier an unbelieving look.

"She has been all over the world."

Xavier nodded.

"Yes, but look. She has one stayed a couple of days in each city."

"Do you think, that someone is after her?"

Xavier shook his head lightly.

"I don't know, but still that only brings up more questions."

He used the mouse to scroll down the screen, so she could she the very last one, which was an air ticket. Xavier then clicked on it, so they could see that the ticket had been used, but in the same time could they also see the plane's number. Storm immediately recognized the number.

"But… that was the one Gambit was on!"

Xavier nodded.

"Yes, and they were sitting next to each other."

"Do you think, that they know each other?"

Xavier switched the computer off and drove over to the door.

"I know, that they do, because it was Remy, who paid for both tickets."


	8. Secrets

**  
7. Secrets **

"It must be like hell for her."

"What?"

The car turned at a corner and began to drive up the driveway to the school.

"It must be extremely hard for Rogue. Having to deal with Gambit's dead."

He nodded as she laidher hand on his thigh.

"I sure don't know, how I would be able to live, if I lost you."

She leaned toward him and kissed him on the cheek.

"I won't be going anywhere."

They had reached the school, so he stopped the car and took her into his arms.

"I sure hope so."

He was just about to kiss her, when something flew out off an opened window. It landed just some feet away from the car and exposed instantly.

"NOT AGAIN!"

Scott and Jean looked at each other, as they had both recognized the voice, but it couldn't be true. They stepped out of the car and went up to the front door just as it opened and Gambit came out. He had obviously just been shaving, since he had remains of shaving foam and cuts all over his face. He was just about to walk pass them, when he saw them.

"I sure don't know, how men is able to live like this."

When they didn't answered he shrug his shoulders in despair and walked away.

"Did you also see that?"

Jean nodded even through the disbelief was writing all over her face.

"But how…"

She stopped in the middle of the sentence as Rogue walked through the open front door.

"Have you seen Rogue…. me…. No, just forget it. I find her myself!"

She walked away and back on the staircase stood Jean and Scott, who were completely confused.

"What is going on?"

"Do you want the long explanation or the short one?"

They turned around and saw, that Jubilee was standing behind them in the doorway.

"The short one!"

Answered Jean and Scott in chorus.

o-

"Rogue?"

She looked up and saw her own body, which only made her sadder. Rogue(Gambit) came over and sat down on the bench next to her.

"M'sweet, don't cry! It doesn't suit me."

He looked investigating over at his own body.

"By the way, it seems like, that I sure could use a haircut."

This made her smile.

"Think, Remy, that you can jokes in a time like this!"

"Not happy to have me back?"

"Always, but this wasn't the way I had expected."

"I know. All the times I have talked about getting close to you, then it wasn't this I was thinking about."

She blushed and looked down on her hands. Rogue(Gambit) gently pulled her head up with his gloved hand.

"Not that I complainant. You really have a great body, but I don't find mine so attractive that I would like to stay like this. Beside I can't figure out this flying thing. I woke up in the middle of the night, because I smashed my head into the ceiling."

Gambit(Rogue) laughed, but quickly she became depressed again.

"But serious, Remy, do you really think, that we will be able to switch back?"

He stood up and offered her his hand.

"Don't worry, chere, The Professor will find a way."

She smiled and took his hand, but, as she hadn't yet go used to Gambit's body, she felt in over him and her hand touched his face for a second. Immediately began Rouge(Gambit) to feel a stream of memories rush through his head.

o-

Jean walked over to Neria and took her hand.

"Are you really sure, that she only is fifteen years old?"

Xavier nodded.

"But she looks to be a least forty!"

He drove over to the window.

"It must be the price for using her powers. It's a great thing to bring people back from the dead – so great, that there need to be a cost, but still I can't figure out where Remy fits into all of this."

She walked over to him.

"What do you mean?"

Xavier shook his head.

"I don't know yet, but I think, that I need to talk to Remy."

He turned his wheelchair around and drove out of the room. Out in the hallway he met Rogue(Gambit), who had an unconscious Gambit(Rogue) in his arms.

"What happen?"

"A accident, Professor, she touched my face."

Beast, who just in the same moment came walking out of his office, helped Rogue(Gambit) into a room, where he very carefully laid Gambit(Rogue) down on the bed. Beast quickly examined her, but ended it with a sigh of relief.

"He… oh, she is only unconscious, so she should wake up in a couple of hours."

Xavier saw the relief in Rogue(Gambit)'s eyes, but still he wasn't satisfied.

"Remy, can I talk to you for a second?"

Rogue(Gambit) nodded and followed Xavier into his office.

"It was a accident, Professor, she felt…"

A gesture from Xavier made him stop.

"It wasn't that I wanted to talk with you about…"

He took a folder from his desk and opened it to take a picture from it, which he then showed Rogue(Gambit). It was a picture of Neria.

"… do you know this girl?"

Rogue(Gambit) shook his head.

"She is a little bit too young for my taste. Why so interested?"

Xavier looked down on the picture of the beautiful teenage girl.

"Because she sat beside you in the plane! And because she save you from the dead…"

He looked straight into Rogue(Gambit) eyes.

"… And because you paid for her air ticket!"

Rogue(Gambit) shrugged his shoulders.

"Sorry, but I can't help. Can't remember anything from that trip."

"Then tell me, why you went over to Paris?"

"Sorry, can't. That is a secret, which is not mine to reveal."

"Then maybe there is more, which you don't tell us."

"Maybe, but everyone sometimes needs to keep secrets… even from friends."

"Friendship is built on trust."

"Right! Like you trust me right now. I have told you, what I can, but still you push me. Where is the trust in that?"

"In a bed. Fighting for her life, because she saved yours!"

Rogue(Gambit) was just about to say something, when he turned around and left the office as he smashed the door behind him.


	9. Fear

(_Thanks for the reviews - JoBO_)

**

* * *

**

8. Fear

He stood in the doorway into her room and tried to remember her, but each time he only found the darkness. Why couldn't he remember this girl? Why did the darkness always stop him? He could feel, that she meant a lot to him, but still he couldn't place her. Each time he felt, that he was getting close it then quickly slipped back into the darkness.

He was just about to walk over to her, when something inside him made him turn around and walk back to Rogue. He went over to the bed, where Gambit(Rogue) still laid unconscious after the touch, and sat down on the chair next to it, as her memories flashed through his head. It helped him to understand her better, but still it was just small bits. Scattered memories, which didn't make any sense, but still it helped him. Just the fact of knowing, that she each time went through this, which had been just such a simple touch.

"Remy?"

He looked up and saw, that the woman was standing in the doorway. She for a second was surrounded by strong white light, which almost blinded him, but then it began fade and disappeared.

"You can't remember me?"

He shook his head, as she came over to him and took his hand.

"Don't be afraid. Try to think back."

He closed his eyes and tried to think. First he was afraid of meeting the darkness again, but then he discovered that it was gone.

"Neria!"

She smiled.

"See, you had the answer in you the whole time."

"But what has happened to you?"

She pulled away from him and turned her back towards.

"I'm going to die. Very soon I'm so weak, that I can't use my powers anymore to keep my body alive, but I couldn't just leave you like this."

He walked over to her and lay hand on her shoulder.

"Don't talk like that, chere! There is still time. The Professor can help you."

She shook her head.

"He can't help me anymore, but I still don't regret coming. Tell Talia that you have fulfilled her assignment."

He turned her around.

"But that is not important anymore. I want to help you!"

She looked up.

"I know. Remember, that I now have been inside you head twice."

"Then you also know, that I love a challenge."

She caressed his cheek for a second.

"Can you see it? You have already helped me enough. I'm free – both in body and mind. You helped me out of my prison and showed me how life could be, which I forever will be grateful for. That is why it's now my turn to helped you."

She gently pushed him away and walked over to the bed, where brushed the hair away from Gambit(Rogue)'s forehead.

"Did you know, that she loves you more that life itself, which is a very rare thing in this world?"

He shook his head in despair.

"What does that help, when the man, that she loves, isn't real, but built up like a house of cards, which only need a breath of air to fall apart."

Neria smiled.

"I think you should give her more credit. Her heart has seen past that a long time ago."

He shrugged his shoulders.

"Maybe and maybe not. I'm not willing to take that chance."

"You can't forever run away from your past. Tell her and get it over."

He walked over to the window as his thoughts wandered away in time.

"I tell her, I lose her."

"If you don't tell her, then you never really have her to lose."

He quickly turned around.

"Did you just come here to lecture me?"

She shook her head.

"I know, how it is to be used. Remember what my powers have done. Remember why you wanted to kill me."

He walked over to her and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"That's not the same. You are just a kid!"

She looked him directly into his eyes.

"Wasn't you also "just a kid"?"

She hadn't even said the last word, before she cried out and felt down on her knees.

"Neria!"

Rogue(Gambit) rushed over to support her as the pain rushed through her body. She tried to send him a grateful look, but the pain was just too big. After some minuets it went a way and she was able to stand up.

"My body… I can't stay like this. I have to do it now, or it will be too late!"

She took his hand and led him over to the bed, where she took Gambit(Rogue)'s hand.

o-

Xavier woke up with a jerk. There was that feeling again. Could it be? He quickly got out of the bed and hastily drove out of his room as he tried to find the feeling again, but it was gone. He was almost at the door into Neria's room, when he suddenly heard someone behind him. He quickly turned the wheelchair around.

"Who is there?"

The person stepped into the moonlight, which came through the window, and he recognized her at once.

"Gambit, what are you doing?"

The confusion was writing all over her face.

"Gambit?"

She looked down at herself and discovered, that she was looking at her own body.

"It's my own body! We have switch back!"

She smiled and looked up on Xavier.

"It's me Professor - Rogue!"


	10. Philippe

**  
9. Philippe**

"Rogue?"

She looked up and saw, that Beast was standing in the doorway.

"Hank, why hasn't he waked up yet? There must be something wrong!"

The anxiety was written all over her face, so he walked over to the bed, where he checked Gambit.

"It looks to be all right, so maybe he just needs some sleep."

It calmed her down a little, but he could still see how worried she was. He walked over to her and offered her his hand.

"Come, they others are eating breakfast."

She cast a nervous glance back at Gambit, but then she took Beast's hand as her stomach began to rumble. They walked down to the kitchen and joined the others at breakfast. Xavier looked up as they came into the room and saw immediately the look in Rogue's eyes.

"Hasn't Remy waked up yet?"

She shook her head as she sat down between Jean and Logan.

"Hank says, that he just need some sleep."

In the same moment came Jubilee into the kitchen.

"Professor, him Louis Dubois is back. He wants to talk with you again."

"Who is Louis Dubois?"

Xavier looked over at Scott, who had asked the question.

"Probably Remy's brother."

o-

It was very warm in there, so Louis took his jacket off as he impatiently paced around the hall. He had just turned at the table, when he caught sight of someone coming down the stairs, so he turned around to get a better look. He saw the surprise in the other one's eyes, as their eyes met, but somehow it didn't surprise him. He had somehow known, that he was alive. In the same way as he in his life whole had knew, that his brother was alive.

They walked closer as they examined the other one closely. Checking all the differences, but also register how identical they were.

"Who… who are you?"

The voice was very high, which made Louis smile.

"My names is Louis Dubois, and I think, that you are my brother."

"I…"

In the same moment opened the door to the kitchen, and Rogue came out into the hall and got very surprised as she saw the two young men. Louis cast an annoyed glance over towards her.

"Is there some place, where we can talk without being disturbed?"

Remy was just about to protest, but then he saw the look in Louis' eyes and nodded.

"We can go out in the garden."

He went over and opened the front door for Louis, who was grateful for the offer. They began to walk down the garden path in stillness, but then Louis stopped up and faced Remy.

"I now, that you think I'm crazy or something, but I really think that your are my brother."

Remy shook his head.

"No, I don't think that you're crazy, but this is just really weird. Why do you think, that I'm your brother…well, that is obvious… but then tell me about him instead."

"Who?"

"Your brother."

They began to walk down the path again, as Louis began to talk.

"I don't know much about him, since we were separated very shortly after birth, but I know so much, that his name was Philippe and we were identical twins…"

He sighed deeply.

"…I know it's not much, but it's all I know. I grew up at on a children's home in France, which didn't kept very good files over their inhabitants. They didn't have room enough to take us both in, so they sent Philippe, you, away."

Remy stopped.

"I wasn't born in France. I was born in New Orleans."

Louis looked him into his eyes.

"Are you sure? I followed the leads, that I had about my brother, here to the United States or rather to Louisiana."

"Okay, maybe I believe you, but do you have any proof of all this, that you just have said?"

Louis nodded and took a folder from his pocket, which he gave to Remy.

"This should do it, and among them are there also copies of the birth certificates."

Remy quickly looked it through, but stopped at different places to read it more exhaustively.

"You can keep it. I still have the originals."

"Thanks, do you want to go out for a drink or something?"

Louis shook his head.

"Sorry, but I need to go back to France this evening. In a matter of fact, I need to leave now, since I have some things, which I need to do before I leave the country. If I had known, that you were alive, then I would have changed my schedule, but now it sadly too late… But you can come to France with me!"

Remy smiled.

"I have just been there, beside…"

He cast a glance back on the school.

"… I have some things, that I need to take care of here."

Louis began to walk again.

"I know, that I'm just a weird stranger, who you want to get rid off."

Remy shook his head.

"No, I believe you or rather I want to believe you. This is a very big thing, which you just have landed on my shoulders. Can I get your phone number or something, so I can get a hold on you, when I have read this."

He held the folder up. Louis nodded and took the folder, which he began to write something on.

"This is my mobil phone number. I always have it on me, so there should be no problem getting to me, but if you want to talk some more, then you can in a couple of hours find me downtown at Hotel St. Johns in room 72 until five o'clock."

He gave the folder back to Remy, who followed him over to his car, where they said goodbye.


	11. The Kiss of Death

_(That's right; chapter 10 was actually chapter 9 before, but moved as I added a prologue to this story. – JoBO)_

**

* * *

**

**10. The Kiss of Death**

The car disappeared from his sight and he began to walk back to the school, but stopped and cast a last glance back. Could it really be true that he was Philippe? He looked down on the folder. Could this really give him what he wanted or was it just a mistake? He closed his eyes, as his thoughts got lost in what there could have been.

"Gambit!"

He opened his eyes and saw that Jubilee came running down the garden path.

"It's Neria. She is awake and asks after you!"

It only took him a second to realize what was going on and he began to run back to the school. He didn't stop before he was just outside her room, but then he suddenly hesitated. Could this really end like this? He took a deep breath and stepped in through the opened door.

The sight, which met him inside the room, confirmed his misgivings. The others were stood around the bed, where an almost white Neria laid. He quickly walked over to the bed without take his eyes away from her. Their eyes met and he could see the pain in hers, so he quickly went over to her and took her hand.

"Remy…"

Her voice was so weak, that he almost couldn't hear her.

"I'm here, chere, don't be afraid."

She tried to smile.

"I'm never afraid anymore… when you are here."

He could see how the life was slipping out her, but still she managed to hold on.

"It's alright. Just let go. You have done all that you can do here."

She tried to say something, but her voice was so weak that he couldn't hear her. He therefore leaned forward, so he better could hear her.

"I can't leave you…"

With an unbelievable strength she pulled herself up and kissed him. The kiss only lasted for a second, but he instantly felt a shooting pain inside his head, which then quickly vanished. He looked back on Neria and saw that she had died.

He closed his eyes and sighted deeply. Happy that it finally was over and that she now had got peace, but still he couldn't just leave the things like this. So much injustice had been done to her, that he just couldn't look away. He squeezed her lifeless hand as he silently swore to revenge her, then he stood up and turned around. He saw that they all were staring at him with surprise in their eyes. Only Rogue's eyes told another story. He recognized the pain in them as she turned around and ran away. He was just about to run after her, when he caught Xavier's eyes. He stopped and turned towards him.

"She called herself Silverline and I was bringing her here, so you could have helped her…"

He cast a glance back on Neria's lifeless body.

"…But now it is too late."

He turned around and left the room.

o-

Suddenly she couldn't breath as it felt like the room began to contract around her, then she saw his eyes and it was just too much for her. She turned around and began to run. Not knowing where she was going, but she just wanted to get out off there.

She reached the front door, which she opened, and ran out into the garden, where the sun began to dry the tears on her cheeks. All of a sudden her foot got caught in something, which made her felt over. She didn't have the strength to pull herself up so she just curled up and gave in to the tears.

It felt like ages had past, when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Rogue."

She jumped up and pulled away from him as she recognized his voice. He saw the tears on her cheeks and walked closer to her, but she pulled away.

"Go away!"

She hided her face in her hands, as she knew that just one look would kill her heart. Therefore she didn't saw the pain in his eyes, which proved his love to her.

"I… I can't… I won't leave you like this, Rogue."

He walked over to her, but she pulled away from him yet again and turned her back to him.

"Why? You don't care!"

"I do."

He walked over to her and was just about to put a hand on her shoulder, when she suddenly turned around. Their eyes met and the look in Rogue's eyes made him take a step back.

"It was never enough for you! Never to been able to touch me. Never to been able to kiss me. Never to been able to…"

She looked down for a second, but quickly regained the eye contract.

"… Therefore you had to run away to Paris and fool around with a fifteen-year-old girl. And I was just a fool to believe that we had something together and that you just needed time, but newsflash I just played you too! I don't love you, but it was fun while it lasted."

She turned around in an attempt to hide the tears, but felt that he could see straight through her lies. A part of her wanted him to take her into his arms and tell her, that every thing was going to be all right, but the rest of her knew that it just would be a lie. He had never been hers. It had all just been a game for him.

"Rogue, I didn't…"

She turned around and her eyes flashed with anger.

"Leave! I don't love you! I don't want to see you again!"

For a second he just stood there, but then he turned around and walked away.


	12. Never Cry Wolf

_(Regarding the last chapter - Gambit wasn't cheating on Rogue with Neria in Paris. They are "just friends". Beside I don't know if you even can call the kiss a kiss, but much more about that later ;)– JoBO)_

* * *

**11. Never Cry Wolf**

The swan landed on the lake and her reflection was erased by the violently movements in the water. It made her wake up from her thoughts. She wiped her eyes with her sleeve and looked over at the swan, which majestically began to rearrange his feathers after the flight. For a second it stopped and looked over at her, who wished that her life could be like a fairytale, but she knew better. There wasn't any happy ending for her. She was bound to live with her curse, since she wasn't an ugly duckling, who was going to evolve into a swan.

"Rogue?"

She looked up for a second and saw that Jean was standing beside her, but quickly her eyes began wander out over the water to the swan again. Jean could see that something was wrong so she sat down beside her.

"We were getting worried about you. You have been gone for a long time…"

She looked around like she was searching for something.

"…Where is Gambit?"

Rogue looked down to hide the tears, which once more came up in her eyes.

"I sent him away."

"Why?"

She didn't answer her, but Jean, who read her like an opened book, laid a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"It's not what you think. I could feel their feelings, when she died, and they have never been a couple."

Rogue looked up and their eyes met for the first time.

"I know… It's just… how can he be so close to one, who he only have known for fourteen days, when he can't…"

She stopped in the middle of the sentence and looked down, but Jean understood the connection.

"I don't know."

Rogue looked up again.

"Have you ever thought about, how it would be, if you didn't have your powers? That you just were normal?"

Jean was just about to shake her head, but then she nodded.

"Sometimes, but then I think about all the good things that I have been able to do, because of my powers, and then I'm grateful for them, but still it's hard. Knowing that if Scott and me ever were married and got children, that they would also get the same problems as we have."

"You and Scott made it look so easy."

Now it was Jean's time to let her eyes wander out over the lake to the swan, which still rearranged his feathers, as she thought about her love.

"Maybe it looks easy, but love is never easy. Scott and me have just so far been lucky, but no one knows have long that will last, but we know that our love is strong enough to help us through the problems that will come…"

She looked over at Rogue.

"… You should trust your love more. He doesn't just stay because of the free meals…"

She stood up and offered Rogue her hand.

"… Come let us go back. Maybe he is already waiting for you there."

Hesitantly took Rogue her hand and Jean help her up. Together they walked back to the mansion, where a worried Xavier met them in the hall. To Rogue's thankfulness he didn't seem to notice her red eyes.

"Where is Remy?"

Before they could answer him came Storm into the room.

"Professor, my friend has just called me back…"

She stopped as she saw the others, but a gesture from Xavier made her continue.

"… He had found out some very intriguing things concerning the papers Louis gave you."

Xavier nodded.

"I was afraid of that. Call the others together in the briefing room."

Storm looked clearly surprised over the professor's decision.

"Shouldn't Gambit get the news first?"

Xavier looked over at Rogue.

"I'm afraid that it's already too late for that."

Rogue, who had seen the look in Xavier eyes, quickly flew up the stairs to Gambit's room, where she pushed the half-opened door up, but only to discover an empty room. The only trace, which showed someone once had lived there, was an x-men-badge, which lay on the floor.

o-

"Fool, I should have done it myself!"

The older man walked over to the fireplace, where he threw the incriminating papers into the fire. The younger man, who was packing something down in cardboard boxes, stopped and looked over at his boss.

"Take it easy! They doesn't think that the plane crash was nothing more that just an accident, besides even if the find out it wasn't an accident, then here is no way that they will be able to trace it back to you."

The older man turned around and the younger one pulled away from him as he saw the gun in his boss's hand.

"Exactly, there is no way they are going to trace it back to me, because the track ends with you!"

He fired the gun only once, but it was enough. The younger man felt down to the floor as the blood began to flow out of the bullet wound in his forehead. The older man walked over to the body, where he admired his work for a second.

"I told you, Justin: No one deceives me!"

He wiped the gun free from fingerprints and laid it in his victim's hand. He then afterward walked out to his car like nothing had happened and stepped into it. He was just about to start it, when something jumped up on the hood. First he thought it was just a big dog, but then he realized that it was a black wolf. There was only a thin windshield between them, when their eyes met as the wolf bare its teeth and growled deeply. The man fumbled with his keys as the fear got a hold of him, but then he found the ignition and started the car. He quickly reverse and the wolf, which lost its foothold, felt down from the hood. The man drove away in high speed.

Back on the scene jumped the wolf up and was just about to begin the pursuit of the car, but stopped in it's tracks, when it saw that the car vanish at the corner. Instead the wolf turned around and disappeared between the trees in big leaps. Each muscle in the body worked in perfect harmony bringing the animal closer to it's destination, but then suddenly it felt a sense of danger and stopped just inches from falling down a steep cliff.

From the top of the cliff it could see the car drove on to the superhighway. The black wolf finally accepted that it had lost the battle and howled out to the full moon in despair. The echo flashed back on the black wolf, but then something happened. The muzzle became shorter and the ears shrank in. The whole body of the wolf began to changed and soon stood a young woman in its place. The wind blew her long black hair away from her face, which would have been perfect, if it hadn't been for the big scar, which cut through the left side of her face as a constantly reminder of her past.

She looked up on the moon as her thoughts wandered away. If she had been able to cry, then she would have shed a tear, but it was a long time ago since she had lost that ability.

"I'm sorry, Remy. I should never have forced you into this, but I will revenge you even if it's going to take the rest of my life."


	13. The Hidden Truth

**  
12. The Hidden Truth**

He was walking through the busy airport, when he suddenly heard someone call out his name behind him. He turned around and saw that a breathless Louis was running behind him. Therefore he stopped so Louis was able to reach him.

"Finally, I have been chasing you through the half of the airport. Didn't you hear me?"

Remy shook his head.

"Sorry, but I didn't expected to meet anyone here."

Louis smiled.

"Well, I figured that out after the first five minuets, but then you aren't here to say goodbye to me?"

Remy shook his head once more.

"I thought you already had left the country."

Louis shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, that was the plan, but I'm still waiting for my ride. What about you? I thought you said that you had some things, which you needed to take care of, so why are you here, if you didn't came to say goodbye."

Remy looked down.

"Well, let us just say, that the things felt down like a house of cards, so now I need to go back to Paris, but everything is sold out."

Louis smiled.

"You can come with me. There is always room for family. Beside I think you want to meet the person, who is picking me up."

"You sound like you hide a private jet in your pocket or something."

Louis smiled shortly, but then he became serious.

"What if I do? Besides I think its time for you to know the truth."

o-

Storm hesitated as she looked out over at the group of x-men, but a gesture from Xavier made her start. She typed something on the keyboard and the papers, which Louis had given Xavier, came up on the screen.

"Xavier asked me to send these documents, which Louis Dubois had given him, to a friend of mine, who specify in validate documents for the CIA."

She paused, but a look from Xavier made her continue.

"My friend found out that they were as real as they can be, but in the same time they are also false."

She looked out over the others and met Scott's eyes, where she could read the confusion over her words.

"What do you mean?"

For a second she held the eye contract, but then she turned her attention back to the screen again.

"If you don't know what to look for, then these papers look real enough, but if you know the signature, then it's easy to see that they are fake…"

She typed something on the keyboard and some red circles appeared on each document.

"… These are the only leads, which show that these are false documents. The rest of it is real enough."

She looked up and met Scott's eyes again.

"So "Louis Dubois" is bogus?"

She nodded.

"Then he isn't Gambit's brother?"

She shook her head lightly.

"Probably not, but even though "Louis Dubois" is fake, then there is still a chance that this man could be Gambit's brother. My friend had seen some work similarly to this before, so he could give me a name on who could have made these documents. He came up with the name Maximilien Arceneaux."

Scott shrugged his shoulders.

"How is that going to help us?"

She would have smiled if the situation hadn't been so serious. It just seemed too simple to be true. It was just a matter of connecting the dots together in the right way.

"The Arceneaux-family is known to only work for one of the greatest and most secretly crime syndicates in the world, which right now is lead by a man called Edmond de Bourbon-Orléans."

Jubilee broke in.

"Bourbon! Isn't that what some of the kings in France was called?"

Storm nodded.

"He is descendant of some of greatest kings in France, but his family line is considered ignominious by the rest of the family, so they have been wiped out of the family tree. Therefore very little is known about this family, but still it is known that Edmond years back got two children – two twin sons, which were named Louis and Philippe."

Jean, who quietly had listen to Storm, said something for the first time.

"In Louis's fake papers it says that his brother's name is Philippe. Do you think…?"

Storm nodded.

"There isn't much known about the two sons, but some of the sources say that one of them, Philippe, and the mother disappeared very shortly after the birth and have never since been seen."

o-

Louis took a sip from his cup of tea and smiled to Remy, who sat on the other side of the table.

"Just what I needed…"

He quickly became serious and lean closer to Remy.

"… The things, that I'm going to tell you now, can be a little hard to comprehend, so that is why I told you a little white lie to start with. I had to make sure, that you really was Philippe…"

He looked nervously around in the restaurant to make sure that no one could overhear them.

"… My name isn't Louis Dubois, but Louis de Bourbon-Orléans; Son of Edmond de Bourbon-Orléans; Brother to Philippe de Bourbon-Orléans… you…"

He looked Remy straight into his eyes.

"… and I didn't grew up in a children's home in France, but on some of the best boarding schools in the world. I…"

He was just about to say something, when suddenly his eyes caught the glimpse of something behind Remy. It made him stop and he stood up. He was just about to go, when he turned to Remy and smiled.

"Remy, meet Edmond de Bourbon-Orléans, our father."

Remy turned around, but froze in the movement as he saw the man, who came walking through the restaurant's front door. The man stopped, when he saw Louis and Remy together like he couldn't believe his own eyes, so Louis walked over to him and pulled him over to Remy.

"I finally found him, papa, meet Remy LeBeau,your second son."

Edmond walked closer to Remy and touched his shoulder lightly just to make sure that he really was there, but then he hugged Remy so tight that he almost squeezed the air out of him.


	14. Subject 72

_(Well, in this story Rogue and Remy is going to get the… well, "greatest test of their love" ever, so who is going to proclaim the love to who is not so important. Let us just hope they are going to survive, but please trust me. They are my favorite couple in X-men, so maybe… Still I have a lot of surprises up in my sleeves. - JoBO)_

_

* * *

_

**13. Subject 72**

'Log 145 by Dr. Emina Lymstad.

Subject 72 seems to fight the treatment on an unconscious level even though the subject is still in a deep coma after the accident. The extent of this self-defense seems to grow with the subject's recovery and comes to expression as changes in the treatment. The subject seems unable to break the connection under a treatment, but this unconscious self-defense system seems to take control over the treatment and force it away from it's goal…'

She looked up from the computer and over on the beds with the various subjects. Her eyes landed on Subject 72. He wasn't like anyone she ever had treated before, which confused her. Normally no one was able to withstand her treatment, but he was.

She stood up and walked over to his bed in order to check his machines. He was getting better with each day that went by. It was just a matter of time before he was going to wake up from his coma. She knew that if he woke up, then there was no way her treatment was going to have an effect on him. He for that reason needed to be kept in a coma. Therefore she walked over to the medicine cabinet and made the syringe ready.

She was just about to go over to Subject 72 with the syringe, when the door opened and Sinister came in to the laboratory.

"Good morning, Dr. Lymstad. How are our subjects doing?"

She laid the syringe down on the nearby table and went over to greet her benefactor.

"Good morning to you too, Mr. Sinister. I have just finished this morning treatment and they almost all responded very well to the treatment. I think we are ahead of the schedule with almost all of the subjects."

"Almost all of them?"

She nodded and began to walk over to Subject 72's bed.

"I'm getting some very interestingly reactions to the treatment from Subject 72."

Sinister was instantly interested. Subject 72 had had his special interest for years, but it was the first time he had been able to examine him this close.

"What do you mean?"

Dr. Lymstad stopped at the end of the bed and took the case notes, which hang on the end of the bed, and gave them to Sinister.

"As you can see from these number, then there isn't a long time before Subject 72 is going to wake up from his coma."

Sinister cast a quick glance down on the case notes, before giving them back to Dr. Lymstad.

"Then it means he is healing. Good. Then there isn't a long time before he is going to be back in his right place."

Dr. Lymstad shook her head.

"I don't think you understand. Subject 72 doesn't react to my treatment like all the others. He seems to fight them on an unconscious level in his present state and he seems to get stronger as each day passes by. If he is going to wake up, then I don't think I will be able to control him."

Even though she couldn't see an effect on Sinister as she looked over at him, then she knew her words had been heard. For couple of minuets none of the said anything, but then Sinister broke the silence.

"He is better that I had expected, but that only give me a greater reason to want him back…"

He looked up at Dr. Lymstad.

"… You want to put him in a medicinal caused coma?"

Dr. Lymstad nodded.

"I know it's very risky, when it's use together with the other drugs, but if I don't do it, then I wouldn't be able to get him to react to the treatment."

Sinister looked down on the young man in the bed and sighted. It was a tough decision to make, but he knew that he plan depended on this young man. Therefore he looked up at Dr. Lymstad and nodded.

"Do as you believe is best, but remember who you are working for. If he dies, then you are going to play for that with your life!"

Dr. Lymstad walked over to the table and took the syringe.

"Fist I didn't understood your fascination of this Subject, but now I can see how powerful he will be to your cause. If he dies, then I will kill myself, since I then have let you down."

Sinister nodded.

"Good answer, my doctor. I can see you still can remember you upbringing."

Dr. Lymstad walked over to Subject 72's bed with the syringe and made him ready for the injection.

"A good soldier never forgets her training."

She gave Subject 72 the injection and was just about to walk over to the trashcan with the syringe, when Sinister stopped her.

"You are more that just a soldier, my child."

Their eyes met.

"Is he also one of your children?"

She nodded over in the direction of Subject 72.

"He is a unique specimen like his brothers, but sadly I can take the entire credit for that."

Sinister turned around and left the laboratory, where Dr. Lymstad walked back to Subject 72's bed and took his hand like she had done so many times before. For the first time she really hated her life, but she had to obey Sinister. He had done so much for her, that she at least owed him that.

* * *

_(Just a little tip: Dr. Lymstad wasn't named accidentally ;) –JoBO)_


	15. Why

_(I have been thinking a long time about this, but now I have finally decided to do it. I have changed this story from love story to… well; I don't know what exactly to call it, but it creeps me out. Therefore I have changed a little in this story to made it fit my plot better… - JoBO)_

* * *

**  
14. Why**

"Why?"

He looked directly into her eyes and saw they were full of rejection, but it immediately changed as he walked closer to her.

"Rogue…"

She pulled away from him and her eyes became big with fear.

"Don't touch me!"

He tried once more to get closer to her, but then she took off into the air. He reached out after her, but then he discovered the blood. His hands were covered with the red substance, which dripped down from his hands and created red puddles on the floor.

"I trusted you!"

He looked up on Rogue again and saw the fear in her eyes had been replaced by pure hate.

"What have I done?"

She sent him a gob of spit as answer.

"Don't think that your charm will help you this time!"

"What have I done?"

"As you don't know!"

She pointed at something behind him. He was just about to turn around, when suddenly everything began to drift away from him until he was alone in the dark.

The dark surrounded him like a comforting blanket, but it forced the fear up in him. He hated to be alone in the dark. That was when the thoughts came with their guilt and blame. Voices from a hidden past, which he had tried to run away from his whole life, but now he knew that they where never going to let him go. He had to live with what he had done, but it couldn't stop him from hating himself. He was always alone in the dark. No one could love a person like him!

Suddenly he felt someone taking his hand. He looked, but he couldn't see anything beside the dark, which still surrounded him. He felt the invisible hand pulling him forward. First he tried to fight it, but then he just let go and followed. Hoping that the hand was going to take him out of the dark.

After a while he began to see a small white light in front of him, which grew as he came closer. In the end it swallowed the dark and the bright white light forced him to close his eyes. He felt the hand in his hand disappear as he was standing there and then…

"Remy?"

He opened his eyes. First he couldn't remember where he was, but then he it all came back to him. He had gone with Edmond and Louis to Paris in the family's private jet, where he had tried to come in contact with Talia without any luck. Louis and Edmond had then persuaded him to go home with them, so therefore he was now sitting in the car between them as it shot through the French countryside.

"Remy?"

He looked up and met Edmonds eyes, which smiled.

"You were far away."

Remy shrugged his shoulders.

"It has just been a long day."

Edmond nodded and pointed at something through the car's windshield.

"Welcome back home."

Remy looked out through the windshield and saw the huge castle in front of them, which became bigger and bigger as they came closer to it. Louis and Edmond, who had seen the surprise in Remy's eyes, began to laugh.

"It is a distant legacy from the past, but still it is our humble home. I hope you like it."

Remy looked over at Edmond and their eyes met.

"Do you make fun of me?"

Edmond shook his head.

"Unfortunately not, it takes a fortune every year to maintain this modest home."

The car stopped in front of the castle, where Louis quickly excused himself and ran over to a young man, who they had passed on their way up the driveway. Remy and Edmond got out of the car and walk up the stairs to the front door, which opened in the same moment as they reached it. A man around the same age as Edmond came out of the door and greeted Edmond.

"Sir, so much have happened since you…"

He stopped in the middle of the sentence as he saw Remy. Edmond used the break to introduce Remy.

"Constantin, my friend, meet my lost son, Philippe, who wants to be called Remy."

Constantin and Remy shook hands as Edmond continued.

"Remy, this is Constantin Arceneaux, my best friend and bodyguard."

Remy sent Edmond a look.

"Bodyguard?"

Constantin quickly nodded.

"Yeah, I'm his bodyguard and now I need to talk to Edmond, so I can protect him."

Edmond sighted.

"Can't it wait? We have just come home."

Constantin shook his head and Edmond gave in. He turned to Remy.

"Okay, I will be back in a second. Just take a look around in the meantime."

Remy nodded as Edmond followed Constantin into another room next to the big hall, where Remy was left standing alone. He began to look around in the big hall, which in its centre had a big staircase made of marble. The walls were covered with portraits and paintings, which Remy began to examine. On his way around he came close to the door, which Edmond and Constantin had went through. He was just about to walk past it, when he discovered it was ajar. As an old habit he pressed his ear to the door.

"…don't know that. He could be a impostor just to get close to you!"

Even though Remy only just had met Constantin, then his voice already sent a shivers down his spine.

"I know, but look at him. Those eyes… He looks exactly like Louis!"

It was Edmond.

"I know you took it very hard, when they disappeared, but this man can't be your son!"

"How do you know? Miracles are known to happen. He could be my son!"

"Even if he really is your lost son, then he still could be a traitor, who is sent here to kill you. Are you really willing to set your life at stake for that?"

"Yes! I have to, because I will lose more if I sent him away and he really is my son!"

For a second none of them said anything, but then Remy could hear that Constantin sighed.

"Okay, he can stay, but a least let me make a DNA-test."

"If that will clam you mind, then it's okay with me, but now I think I have to go back to my son."

Remy could hear footsteps coming closer to the door, so he quickly walk over to the other end of the hall and looked like he was very interested in a picture of Louis XIV. He heard the door being opened and the footstep came over to him.

"Louis XIV. Good choice …"

Remy turned around and saw that Edmond was standing behind him.

"… Did you know that he is one of our ancestors?"

Remy shook his head.

"But wasn't he the king of France?"

Edmond smiled.

"Yeah, he was. We have royal ancestors, but that is a long story. Still I amazed that you chose his portrait. Louis is one of the main characters in my favourite novel "The Man in the Iron Mask" by Alexandre Dumas."

"Isn't that a movie with him DiCaprio?"

Edmond frowned his eyebrows.

"Yes, it is, but I didn't thought it was your kind of movie."

"Well, it isn't, but Rogue…"

The memories hit him like a train, but he quickly pushed them away.

"… a girl I know made me see it."

Edmond looked interested over at Remy.

"Rogue, what a interested name. Is she your woman?"

Remy turned around and was just about to walk away, but stopped as he realized that he actually didn't want to go.

"We had something together, but it's over now… besides you never told me why you were so amazed that I chosed that portrait."

Edmond walked over to Remy and laid a hand on his shoulders.

"Never give up on love, but now I wouldn't speak more about that, besides I think grandmamma has left a cake or two out in the kitchen and she absolutely makes the best cakes in the world. Then I can also tell you about the real Louis XIV and his younger brother, Philippe, which you and your brother have been named after."


	16. The Spider's Web

**  
15. The Spider's Web**

He walked down the stairs and into the kitchen as the sweet smell of coffee found it's way to his nose. Grandma Francisca looked up from her cooking as he came into the kitchen and smiled.

"You are up early."

Remy said good morning and smiled back as he sat down at the table next to Max, who was Constantin's son. Grandma Francisca came over with some breakfast to Remy and sat down at the table with a cup of coffee. As Remy looked down at the food he discovered how hungry he really was, so he immediately began to eat the food.

"It's good that you are up this early. It gives us some time to get to know each other…"

She looked over at Max, who sat with his nose in his computer. Even though Remy only had been there a day, then he had already learnt about Max's obsession with his computer. Max had always his computer with him and almost every time you saw him was he working with something on it. Remy found it a little weird, but for Louis, who was best friends with Max, he tried to get along with Max.

"…Besides it's good to get some company here in the early morning hours."

Remy was just about to say something, when he heard someone coming into the kitchen. He turned around and saw that it was Constantin, who looked surprised over seeing Remy, but quickly Constantin's face became like stone again. Constantin walked over to the stove and poured a cup of coffee, before he then turned towards Remy.

"I thought you were going to sleep in today."

Remy shrugged his shoulders and met Constantin eyes.

"Well, I'm a morning person, when the situation demands it."

For a second Constantin eyes were cold as ice, but then he began to smile.

"That's good. Your father has just told me that he had some papers, which he needs you to sign."

Remy couldn't hide his surprised.

"Papers that he wants me to sign?"

Constantin nodded.

"Yes, we are working in his office, so if you just will run in there and sign them, then it will be good."

Remy considered the situation for a while, but then he nodded and stood up.

"Okay and thanks Constantin for telling me that."

Remy walked out of the kitchen and over to the office's door, where he knock on the door. Immediately the door was opened by Edmond, who looked surprised over seeing Remy up this early.

"Remy, you are up!"

Remy nodded.

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep anymore and Constantin said you had some papers that you wanted me to sign."

Edmond smiled.

"That's right. I so happy about having you back that I have been working the whole night to make it official."

Remy raised his eyebrows.

"Has the DNA-results come back?"

Edmond shook his head.

"No, but that's not imported. What a father I would be if I couldn't even recognize my own son. Can you wait here a little while? I have just put the papers out in the car, because I thought you were going to sleep in, so I just need to bring them back."

Remy nodded.

"That's all right. Is it okay if I use the phone in the meantime?"

Edmond, who was about to walk out of the door, froze in the moment and looked back at Remy.

"You don't have to ask. This is also your home now. Okay?"

Remy nodded and Edmond walked away as Remy walked over to the phone. He knew it was very late back at the school, but he just needed to speak to Rogue. He hadn't been able to sleep in the night, because he couldn't stop thinking about their argument.

He hesitantly reached out after the phone and pressed the number to the school. The phone rang several times before it was answered. He instantly recognized Rogue's voice, but then he suddenly felt like all the courage had left him and he couldn't say a word.

"Hello, is someone there?"

Her voice was tough like always, but still it had the hit of frailty, which he loved.

"Remy?"

He quickly pressed down on the phone, so it died. He should never have made that phone call. She had guessed that it was him, who had called the school, but he was finished with that life, where he never was going to fit in. He had before been able to push feelings away, but somehow this time it was much harder for him to do that.

Since cleaning up wasn't Edmond's strongest ability, then the desk was full with all kinds of papers and folders. Therefore Remy happened to push a folder down on the floor, where it's contents spread out, as he reached down to put the phone back. Quickly he kneeled down and gathered the papers, but then something caught his attention on one of the papers. He closed his eyes for a second before looking at the paper again, but still he saw the same thing. The paper was just a boring credit voucher, but it was the signature underneath, which interested him. Even how many time he read the name it always said the same, namely Dr. Neria Ury.

He heard footsteps coming, so he quickly put the papers back in the folder and laid it back on the desk. A second later came Edmond and Constantin in through the door.

"Oh sorry, I forgot that you were going to make a phone call."

Remy shrugged his shoulders as he tried to get his pulse down. Could he really right now be standing in front of the man that Neria feared so much? The man that he had swore to take down.

"Well, there was nobody home, besides didn't you have some paper that you needed me to sign?"

Edmond nodded and walked over to his desk, where he pushed some of the stuff away to make room for them.

"Please sit down, so we can get it over."

Remy sighted with relief and sat down in one of the chairs in front of the desk.


	17. Under the Stars

**  
16. Under the Stars**

He waited until everybody had gone to bed before he sneaked down the stairs and over to the office's door, which to his surprised wasn't locked, but still it moaned alarming as he opened it. The office was bathe in the moonlight, which poured into the room from the windows, so he didn't have any problem in seeing where he was going.

He therefore quickly walked over to the desk and tried to find the folder again, but it was without any luck. Instead he found another folder, which made him forget all about the first one. Inside this folder was there a photo of Neria and a case sheet about her. He hastily read it through and felt the relief as it confirmed, what she had told him. She had told him the truth.

He swiftly flicked through the other papers, which were photos and case sheets over persons that he didn't knew, and came to the very last sheet, which was a map over an area. He recognized as being the surroundings around the castle. On the map was there marked a spot, which laid around twenty miles away from the castle, and right away a plan began to form inside his head. He needed to know the truth about all this, so he put the map in his pocket and walked out in the dark night.

After a long walk along the main road he was able to get a lift with a friendly truck driver, so he was able to cover the distance in around an hour. The full moon hided behind some clouds as the truck driver dropped him off near the spot on the map, so it was pitch-dark as he began to walk the last part of the way. Therefore he took a card up from his pocket and used it as flashlight. The card lighted up a sign in the side of the road, which said: Keep out!

The road soon changed into a dirt road, but he kept walking. As he came closer to the spot on the map he put the card back in his pocket and only used the light for the moon to find his way. Shortly after he could dimly see some buildings in the scarcely light and he sneaked over to them. On his way over to them he detected a large amount of tripwires and other fun stuff, but he was able walk around them. There was definitely someone here, who didn't like to get visitors. In the same moment the night's silence was broke by a loud scream of pain, which made a shiver ran down his spine. Maybe the traps weren't meant to keep visitors away from this place. Maybe they were meant to keep someone inside the buildings from getting out.

He took out his bo staff and began to walk closer to the buildings as he scanned the area for ways to get in, but it all looked to be securely lock so he started walking around the buildings. After a while his patience was rewarded and he found a door, which had a lock so he could pick it. A second later he was inside in a white hallway, which was a directly contrast to the wilderness outside, as there wasn't even a grain of dust in there. It was all so sterile and white.

He suddenly heard the scream again, which sounded worse now that he was inside, and it brought long forgotten memories back to him. He quickly pushed them aside and began to walk in the direction of the scream. Every step he took was amplified by the hallway and was thrown back at him. First he was afraid that someone was going to hear him, but it didn't seem to happen, so he kept going.

He came to a corner in the hallway and was just about to walk around it, when he heard voices. He couldn't hear what they were saying, so he peeked around the corner and saw to men, who were talking together. One of the men had some kind of cloak on, so Remy couldn't see his face, and the other one he had never seen before. The two men talked eagerly together for a while, but then the man with the cloak slapped the other one and walked determined away. The other one looked as the man with the cloak walked away, but then he turned around and walked through a door to his left.

Remy didn't move until he was sure the coast was clear, then he walked over to the door and looked into it's pane of glass. He could never have been prepared to see the sight, which met him. He had seen so much in his life, but never something like this, which almost forced him to throw up. Still he couldn't take his eyes away from that as he realized how evil people could be. He needed to do something about it.

Suddenly he felt a hand over his mouth and someone behind him started to pull away with him. He first tried to fight it, but that only made the hold around him stronger, so he relaxed and waited for his chance. He was pulled through the hallway and through the same door as he earlier had come through. Outside he saw his chance and was able to get out his attacker's hold. He quickly turned around and was about to attack, when he recognized his assailant.

"Grandma Francisca?"

She nodded.

"Yes, it's me, Remy, but there isn't time to explain. You need to get out of here."

She began to walk away from the buildings as she strongly pulled Remy, who realized she had to be a mutant, after her. Like a professional soldier she was able to detect all the traps and they got safely away, but still she didn't stopped before they reached the main road.

"You should never have come here!"

He felt the anger rose in him. He had been in there and seen what they did, but still he hadn't done anything to stop it.

"Are you working for them?"

She froze in her moment and looked back at him.

"No! I try to stop them, but I don't want you to get hurt."

Remy was just about to say something, when a truck came driving down the road and stopped next to them. Francisca hastily walked over to the driver and talked shortly with him and then she walked back to Remy.

"He has agreed to take you to Paris, there I have a friend, who can help you."

Remy hesitated.

"Why? I have to go back to…"

She walked over to him and forced him to look into her eyes.

"You can't stay here anymore. You have seen what they do here at The Factory and they know it, so you aren't safe here anymore. Going away is the best way you can do to help yourself and your family."

Remy still hesitated.

"But what about Louis and Edmond?"

She smiled dimly.

"I will find something to tell them, but now the most important thing is to get you to safety."

In the same moment the truck driver honked impatiently so Francisca pulled Remy over to the back of the truck, where she helped him get in. The truck driver started the truck again and just as they were about to drive away leaned Francisca close to Remy and kissed him on the cheek.

"I love you and remember that you will always have a family here, my grandson."

The truck driver changed gear and they began to drive away. Remy looked back at the old woman, who had surprised him so much this night, as he tried to gather his thoughts to figure out what just had happened.


	18. Faith, hope and love

**  
17. Faith, hope and love**

The truck suddenly stopped and he woke up form his sleep as he heard the door to the driver's cab being opened. Therefore he climbed over to the back end of the truck and looked out under the tarpaulin, but he couldn't see anything out there in the dark, so he felt back on his temporary bed and hoped the truck driver just needed to take a leak.

As the minutes past and nothing happened he began to get worried, so he climbed back over to the back end of the truck and out in to the night. Straight away he was blinded by a flashlight, which someone shined right into his eyes. He was just about to take a card from his pocket, when suddenly someone began to talk.

"What did you do it?"

He immediately recognized Edmond's voice and relaxed a little, but still there was a hit of something in the voice, which he never had heard before.

"And I haven't done anything yet. Oh well, sorry, but I just don't like not being able to see."

Quickly he hit out after the flashlight, which he luckily was able to beat out of the holder's hand, so it felt down to the ground and broke into thousands of pieces. It took his eyes a couple of seconds to get use to the dim light from the moon, but then he saw them. Edmond and Louis was standing in front him and Edmond came closer to him as Remy tried to read his eyes, but they told too much.

"I don't want to fight you. I just want to understand why you became a traitor. I know that I should have looked more after you, when you disappeared, but the pain was just too big. Are you trying to punish me for that?"

Remy didn't understood anything of what just was happening, so he stepped back and took his bo staff out as he realized that maybe he was going to be the next victim in The Factory.

"I don't have any ideas about what you are talking about, but I'm not going to used as a guinea-pig in one of your sick experiment out at The Factory… Not without a fight!"

Edmond stopped in the movement and frowned his eyebrows.

"Sick experiments out at The Factory? What are you talking about?"

Remy took another step back, so he had his bask covered by the truck.

"They aren't so easily forgotten, but hey let me give you a hint. I found the folder on your desk."

"What folder?"

"It had a rather good photo of Neria in it, but much more interested was the extremely nice map at the end, which showed where The Factory was!"

Remy stared at Edmond, who looked to be very confused over what Remy had told him.

"I don't know anything about some factory or something and I don't know anybody called Neria."

Edmond tried to walk closer to Remy, but Remy stopped him with the bo staff.

"That's because she died in my arms!"

Edmond, who was shook over how the things had develop, was just about to say something, when they heard a click like a pistol being loaded from the shadows around them.

"Monsieur Edmond, please step away!"

The person stepped out from the shadows and into the moonlight so they could recognize him. It was Max and he was holding a pistol, which he had pointed at Remy, in his hand. Louis walked over to his best friend.

"Go away, Max. This is only concerns the family."

Louis tried to take the gun away from Max, but Max pushed him away.

"Don't make me repeat this, Monsieur Edmond, please step away from that impostor."

Edmond turned around and cast a glance back at Max, but still he didn't move away from Remy.

"Max, do as Louis said. This is only involves my sons and me."

Max began to laugh and nodded over in the direction of Remy.

"He is not your son. He is just an impostor, who has been trained to get close to you."

Edmond looked surprised back at Max.

"What do you mean about that he isn't my son?"

Max took his backpack off without lowering the pistol and pushed it over to Louis.

"My computer is in the backpack. Turned it on and you will see."

Louis took the computer out of the backpack and turned it on. After some seconds an article appeared on the screen, which Louis began to read, but then Max became impatient.

"It's a article that I just have found on the net from a small tabloid in Louisiana, or if you want it closer define, then it's from Chalmette, which is a city near New Orleans."

Louis, who just had finished reading the article, grasped and looked startled over at Remy and Edmond, who still was standing just a few feet from each other.

"They have found the skeletons of a woman and a baby, which…"

Louis stopped in the middle of the sentence as he realized what he was saying. Max therefore finished the sentence as he looked over at Edmond.

"Which are your wife and son, the real Philippe!"

Edmond, who felt like a train had hit him, immediately turned around and met Remy's eyes. For seconds none of them said anything, but Remy could see the doubt in Edmond's eyes. Remy took a hand down in his pocket after a card so he could escape, when the chance allowed it, but Max, who thought he was reaching after a gun, fired the pistol. Edmond, who realized what had happened, quickly jumped over to Remy and pulled him down to the ground as he tried to protect him from the shoot.

Louis quickly ran over to Remy and Edmond, who still was lying on the ground and lifted Edmond away from Remy. He was then shook over to see that Remy was covered with blood.

"Are you okay?"

He tried to catch Remy's eyes, but Remy kept staring at something. Louis followed the look and saw that was a little hole in Edmond's chest. Quickly he laid Edmond down at the earth and pressed down on the wound, but still he could feel the blood oozed out of the wound. Remy, who had snapped out of his trance, took his coat off and pressed it against thewound.

Edmond opened his eyes for the first time since the shoot and looked up at Louis and Remy, who was working together as they tried to stop the bleeding, and smiled.

"My sons. I'm so proud of you."

He tried to say more, but coughed some blood up instead. Louis helped him get it out.

"Don't talk, father. You need to save your strength."

Edmond tried to shake his head.

"No, this is the end for me. Please promise me that…"

Louis felt the tears run down his cheeks so he wiped them away with his sleeve.

"I will do anything for you!"

Edmond's eyes had begun to get a milk-white membrane over them, but still he tried to focus on the two younger men as he took their hands and put them together.

"Promise me that you always will be there for each other."

Remy and Louis's eyes met as the nodded, but then they felt Edmond's grasp in their hands disappear and they looked down at him. The life had left Edmond's eyes and they starred back at the two younger men without any expression in them.

"NO!"

Remy and Louis looked up and saw Max, who still was standing with the pistol in his hand. Louis read the expression on Max's face like an opened book, so he quickly stood up and ran over to him, but still it was too late. Without taking his eyes away from Edmond's body took Max the pistol up to his forehead and pressed down on the trigger. Instantly Max collapsed and felt down on the ground, where only the hole in his forehead showed what had happened. Louis jumped over to him and tried to save him, but it was too late.

Louis looked over at Remy, who still was sitting at Edmond's body, as the tears ran down his cheeks, but this time he didn't noticed it.

"Are you a traitor?"

Remy met Louis eyes as he shook his head. Louis then walked over to Remy and gave him a hastily hug.

"I believe you, but you have to run away now. They are coming."

Remy took his coat and stood up, but then he hesitated as he looked back at Louis. In the same moment they say the lights from the approaching cars coming down the hill behind them. Louis stood up and tried to push Remy away.

"Run! Let me take care of them."

Remy still hesitated, but then he saw Louis's eyes, so he turned around and began to run. Behind him he could hear Louis yell after him.

"I will find you again, my brother!"


	19. The Wolf and Wolverine

**  
18. The Wolf and Wolverine**

The sun rose in the horizon and announced a new days coming as Jubilee sat down on the nearby doorstep and cast a tired glance back at the other x-men.

"Can we go back now?"

She yawned.

"I so tired that I could sleep anywhere… even here at this doorstep."

She curled up on the doorstep and closed her eyes. Jean walked over to her and tried to get her up and stand again, but the young x-man had already felt asleep. Jean then instead sent Cyclops a worried look.

"She has right. We have been looking constantly for the last 24 hours after clues, which can helps us find Gambit, without finding any. I think we have to face the fact that he didn't want us to find him."

All the others eyes laid at Cyclops as he quickly thought the whole situation through, and then he nodded in agreement.

"Okay, let us go back to the Blackbird."

As he looked out over the other x-men he realized how tried they all was. After the mysteriously phone call to the school, which they had trace back to France, had they gone to Paris in an attempt to track down Gambit's movement in the city before the plane crash, but it was without any luck. Only Rogue didn't seemed to be tried and he eyes flashed as she realized that they were going to stop.

"No, we have to find Gambit. He…"

She wanted to say more, but turned away to hide the tears. Wolverine walked over to her and laid a supporting hand at her shoulder.

"It's okay, Rogue. We aren't going to give up on him, but we need some sleep."

As she looked up at him with the tears in her eyes he cursed Gambit from bringing her in that situation.

"We are not alone."

They all looked surprised over at Storm and followed her glance. In the other end of the street was a teenage boy hiding behind some garbage cans. As he realized they had discovered him he began to run away and quickly the x-men began to follow him.

After a breathless chase through the city the boy made a mistake and ran into a narrow alleyway, which ended blindly. The x-men made sure that the boy couldn't escape. Wolverine slowly walked closer to the boy as the boy went into defence position.

"Easy now! We are not going to hurt you, but we just want to know why you were following us."

He was almost over at the boy, who flinched away from Wolverine, as all the sudden a big black dog jumped down from the nearby roof and landed between Wolverine and the boy. The dog quickly turned around to face Wolverine, who realized it was a wolf, and bare its teeth as it growled deeply.

Wolverine jumped back as the wolf lunged out at him and he unleashed his claws. Quickly he returned the attack and felt how one of his claws cut through the wolf's fur and into the body. Instead of the expected outburst from a wounded animal, then they heard a woman's cry of pain.

The wolf crouched down on the asphalt as a thin red line found it's way over the asphalt to a drain. The boy quickly ran over to the wolf and took it into his arms as suddenly the wolf began to change. The muzzle became shorter and the ears began to shrink in, then the fur disappeared and revealed a woman's body underneath. A red mark on her white shirt showed the spot where Wolverine's claw had hit her.

The woman, who seemed stronger in this form, stood up with the help from the boy and looked over at the x-men. She quickly pushed to boy behind her and went into defence position again. Her long black hair hided her face, so they couldn't read her mood. Slowly Wolverine began to walk closer to her.

"Look lady, we don't want to hurt anybody. We just want to know why that boy was following us."

He pointed with his claws towards the boy, but quickly the woman stepped protective in front of the boy again.

"Because I told him to do it, so can we go now?"

"Why?"

The woman growled deeply, but then the boy took her arm.

"Please Talia, you are injured!"

Talia laid a reassuring hand on the boy's shoulder and stared back at Wolverine.

"Why have you been going around and asking question about a certain Remy LeBeau?"

"We need to find him."

She began to laugh.

"He is dead. He died in a plane crash some days ago. You must have heard about it. It was all over the news."

"He survived the plane crash, but went back here to France and disappeared."

Talia quickly turned around, so her hair went back her shoulders and revealed her face, which would have been perfect, if it hadn't been for the big scar, which cut through the left side of her face.

"What! Is Gambit alive? Where is he?"

Wolverine was surprised to see the changes in Talia after he had mention that Gambit was alive. Her eyes were full of anxiety and happiness in the same time. For a while he stopped seeing the scar and only saw the woman behind it.

Rogue, who had been standing in the background, also saw the changes and came forward.

"You know him?"

Talia met Rogue's eyes. For a while Talia thought about running away, but then she realized who was standing in front of her.

"Your name is Rogue, isn't it?"

Rogue nodded in surprised as Talia continued.

"Then your all must be The X-men. Gambit has told me about you, but I never thought I was going to meet you."

Rogue walked closer to her.

"Who know Gambit?"

Talia nodded, but suddenly she began to look nervously around. Quickly she turned towards the boy.

"Ryan, use your power to lure them away from us."

The boy hesitated, so she quickly continued.

"It's alright! They are Gambit's friends."

The boy stepped away from her as he changed into a hawk and flew away. In the meantime Talia quickly ran over to end of the alleyway, but stopped as she realized they weren't following her.

"Come on! We need to get away from here before they find us!"

Cyclops took a step towards her, but then he stopped.

"Who?"

In the same moment Wolverine also sense the danger and was just about to go into defence mode, when Talia ran back and grabbed his hand. He was just about to protest, but then he saw her eyes. They were big with fear.

"Please, just follow me now and I will tell you everything later, when we are safe."

The look in her eyes made them follow her, so she led them out of the city and over to a waste site, where she walked over to a huge pile of trash. Just as they thought that she had gone completely mad she pressed down on a hidden handle and a doorway appeared.

"I'm sorry about the smell, but it's the best place to hide."

She walked into the doorway and disappeared. For a second the x-men didn't move, but then Cyclops followed her. As he passed the doorway he stepped into a small hallway, which was lit-up by small light bulbs in the ceiling. He quickly walked over to Talia, who stood waiting by a door in the other end of the hallway.

"You promised that you was going to tell us everything."

She nodded and opened the door. The sight, which met Cyclops, he could never have been prepared for. The room was fill with children in all ages. Some of them he could see were clearly mutants, but others only had a hunted looked in their eyes.

"Are they all mutants?"

She shook her head as her eyes wandered out over the children.

"No, many of them are, but some are just here because they don't have another place to stay. Up in the city someone is kidnapping both mutants and normal people. Many of these children have lost their mother, father or both to the kidnappers…"

She looked back at Cyclops.

"… It was those kidnappers, who we were running away from."

o-

He knocked on the door and hesitated as she called him in, but he then shook his head over his own behaviour and opened the door. Talia was sitting on her bed with her back to the door and only a towel around her, because she had just been taking as shower.

"Sorry, I didn't meant to disturb you, but I just thought that you wanted to know that Ryan has come back."

He was just about to close the door again, when she turned around.

"Thanks Wolverine, that really takes a stone away form my heat…"

She stood up and walked over to him. He immediately saw the wound in her shoulder, where his claw had gone through her skin, and he felt guilty.

"… I hate to ask you, but do you mind helping me dress my wound. I have tried to do it myself, but I just can't get it to stay fit."

He nodded and took the bandage that she held out towards him. She turned around and he started bandaging her shoulder.

"I'm sorry that I wounded you."

"That's okay. I always get very weak as a wolf, when I'm tried. I…"

He had finished her bandage, so she turned around to face him. Their eyes met and suddenly she forgot what she was about to say. She leaned towards him and met his lips in a kiss.

In the same moment an alarm began to ring, which made them end the kiss even before it really had started. She quickly ran over to her bathroom and just seconds later she stepped out of it fully dressed. Simultaneously Ryan appeared in the doorway.

"Talia, the alarm went of in the southern hallway."

"Have the cameras picked anything up?"

He shook his head as she quickly walked over to him and together they walked back to the main room, where the others had gather. She stood up on the platform and looked out over the children, who all knew too well what there was on stake.

"Okay, there is nothing to be afraid of, but just as a precaution your are going to go down in the safe house, while Ryan an me check this out."

In totally silence the children began to walk out of the room and over to the hallway to the right. Cyclops walked over to Talia with they other x-men close behind him.

"Talia, you are injured, so please let us do it!"

She was just about to protest, but then she met Wolverine's eyes and nodded.

"Ryan can show you the way, but please be on guard. I don't want your life on my conscience."

She cast a last glance over at Wolverine, before she turned around and followed the children to the safe house. Back in the main room Cyclops turned towards Ryan.

"Okay Ryan, show us the way so we can find out what is happing here."

Ryan nodded and walked over to the hallway to the left as the x-men followed him. After a while Ryan raised his hand to make them stop and whispered to Cyclops, who was just behind him.

"There is only one and he is walking towards us. He is only around fifty yard ahead of us."

Cyclops nodded and quickly he commanded the others x-men to form an ambush in the dark hallway. They all took their places and waited with bated breath for their victim, who slowly was walking closer to them.

The intruder walked right into the ambush and they were getting ready to close the trap around him, when Wolverine held them back.

"Don't do it…"

He took a flashlight from Ryan's belt and shined with it over on the intruder, whose face was lighted up so they all could recognize him.

"… It is Gambit"

Before Wolverine had finished the sentence ran Rogue over to Remy, but she screamed as she discovered that he was covered with blood. Simultaneous Remy lost his consciousness and felt towards Rogue, who caught him.


	20. Mistakes

**  
19. Mistakes**

She walked out off the hidden doorway and out in the thick forest as she started looking around after him, while she hoped he still was there. She came down to the little lake next to the big oak and a deer anxiously jumped away. She stopped as she instantly felt the wolf's instincts rose inside her and it made her sight deeply. It was those instincts, which kept bringing her into troubles, but at least now she knew how to fight them. Or did she?

She started walking again and soon she found him sitting on a tree trunk on the top of a cliff, where he was looking out over the forest. She immediately hated herself as she realized that she really liked him, but she also knew it could never happen. Not after what she had become and she couldn't blame Sinister for it all. She sighted deeply and walked over to the tree trunk, where she sat down on next to him.

"Hey, is this seat taken?"

He shook his head without looking at her.

"How is Gambit?"

She looked down on her hands.

"He is still unconscious, because he has lost a lot of blood, but we got the bullet out of his shoulder so…"

She took a deep breath.

"… We need to talk about what happened yesterday."

She looked over at him, but there were no changes to see on his face so she continued.

"I'm sorry that I kissed you. As you know I have this mutation, which enable me to change into a wolf, but that isn't the only thing it does. I also have certain wolf traits and one of those is that I…"

It was so hard to say, but she needed to tell him and it was his right to know so she hastily told him the rest.

"…That I come into heat once every year. In that period I therefore emit pheromones, which… Jean told me that you have enhanced senses… and I also do some things that I later regret in that period like the kiss."

She quickly stood up and began to walk back.

"Are you involved with Gambit?"

She stopped and looked back.

"Romantic?"

He nodded and she shook her head as answer.

"No never, he hates me."

She could read the surprised in his eyes as their eyes met, but still his face was like stone.

"Why?"

She turned around.

"That's something, which only concern him and me."

She was just about to walk away, when she felt his hand on her shoulder and she froze.

"I need to know."

She felt how the feelings came over her and she knew that she need to do something really fast, because otherwise she wouldn't be able to fight it.

"Because I blackmailed him!"

She quickly pushed his hand away and ran into safety.

o-

As he opened his eyes he hoped it all had been a dream, but then he saw her and he knew it really had happened. Her whole face lighted up as she saw that he had opened his eyes and she sent him a smile, which he wanted to return, but then he remembered why he had left her. He tried to sit up, but then he felt like he had a big stone on his chest, which held him down, so he felt back in the bed. Quickly she stood up and helped him as he looked away in shame.

"Take it easy. You need to rest, so the wound can heal."

He looked surprised over at her.

"The wound?"

She sat down on the bed next to him.

"You have been shoot. Can't you remember that?"

The pictures flashed before his eyes as the sounds from the gunshots echoed in his ears, which made him jerk back in the bed. Rogue, who was surprised over his reaction, quickly took his hand.

"Remy, what is wrong?"

He couldn't tell her, when he didn't even understand it himself, so he looked away. He then felt her caring hand on his cheek and looked back at her. For the first time since he had awakened he really saw her. She hair was a mess and she had dark rings under her eyes, which where wet with tears, but in that instant he felt in love with her all over again.

"I'm sorry."

He was just about to wipe her tears away with his free hand, but then he remembered her powers and hesitated. Quickly she took his hand as their eyes met.

"No, you don't have to excuse yourself. I'm the one, who has to do that. I was so hung in my own problems that I didn't saw how much you were hurting. I know that you never have been with Neria, but I love you so much that…"

She looked away.

"… I was afraid that you didn't want to know about me after you discovered my past."

"What do you mean?"

She looked surprised back at him.

"Back when we switched bodies and you accidentally used my powers against me."

It felt like a million years had past since then. It felt like it was in another life, but then he realized that it only had been a couple of days since it had happened.

"It was just scattered memories, which didn't make any sense, but still knowing that you go through that each time help me understand you better…"

Should he tell her that even how bad she thought her past was, then his past was much worse? He had heard rumours about her past, but she couldn't be blamed for that. She had just been a kid back then and besides she kept the past behind her. It was nothing like him. He was still living his past and therefore he couldn't tell her. He couldn't stand to lose her. Not now after he had lost so many. Therefore he had to keep the mask up and hoping that she wouldn't see past that. In the meantime he could just dread the day, where she found out that the man that she loved wasn't real, but just built up like a house of cards, which only needed a breath of air to fall apart.

He looked over at her and met her eyes again. Her eyes now shined in delight and confirmed to him that he shouldn't tell her. It was his burden to carry alone, because he couldn't force her into his hell. Still he couldn't live without her, so therefore he had to keep the mask.

"… but let the past be in the past. Besides nothing can ever change my feelings for you, chere."

She smiled and blew him a kiss, but then she quickly became worried again as he began to cough.

"Do you want some water?"

Between the coughs he was able to nod, so she quickly stood up and walked over to the door, which in the same moment was opened by Talia, who felt over the doorstep and in over Rogue. In the fall Talia's hand touched Rogue's face and Rogue's powers was immediately trigged.

A second later Rogue stood up and met his eyes as a scar manifested itself on the left side of her face. The same scar had he had giving Talia all those years ago. He then realized that now she knew and the day he had dreaded for so long had finally come. Inside his head he heard Neria's words again and again.

"If you don't tell her, then you never really have her to lose."

* * *

_(Sorry, Tammy, I know that you where hoping for them to get back together, but remember there is always a joker in each set of cards ;) – JoBO)_

_(By the way it is probably going to be a while before the next chapter comes. I need to study for some exams, so I don't have so much time in the next couple of months – JoBO)_


End file.
